Homeland Security guest speakers at the criminology honor society’s Homeland Security event made the crowd gasp after telling stories covering narcotics, large sums of money and undercover work Wednesday.

Special agents Lyndsay Goschke and Adam Gallegos spoke to Alpha Phi Sigma members about their careers as special agents, told past stories about their time in the field and gave advice to students who are interested in law enforcement .

Goschke formerly worked for the secret service and now works for Homeland Security Investigations where she focuses on child exploitation. Gallegos also works for Homeland Security and works narcotics, bulk cash, smuggling and weapons investigations.

“I came in to speak today, because when I was in school I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to professionals in the field,” Goschke said.

One of their former interns and secretary of Alpha Phi Sigma, Gabriel DiFilippo, also told stories about his time working for the pair.

Goschke began her journey in criminology at the University of Mississippi where she earned a Masters of Arts in Criminal Justice with a specialization in Homeland Security. Once she graduated, she began her career with the U.S. Secret Service in 2017. She then joined HSI in 2020.

Gallegos also joined HSI in 2020 after starting his career in law enforcement at The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

During Gallego’s presentation, he mentioned he intersected drug smuggling that included 25 kilograms of drugs and 2.5 million dollars, which made the crowd collectively gasp.

Both agents discussed how they travel often for their job and can be gone for long periods of time.

“I was in a town called Alpine, Texas with a population of 5,000 people for 2 months,” Goschke said.

The job can also have added stress on relationships due to the added time elements.

“This is the type of job where you will lose people, because of the time commitment it requires,” Gallegos said.

Throughout the presentation, students asked questions about how to get started in the criminal justice field.

“I feel like it was very informative and gave me a sense of direction,” Nakiyah Organ, a senior criminology and justice studies major, said

Organ said she wants to work for the FBI and or in police work, but the event made her think about potentially going into homeland security.

The agents’ main advice for going into criminal justice is to get in anywhere and build connections. If you want to learn more about Homeland Security Investigations, you can go to their website Homeland Security Investigations | ICE.

Skylar Edington is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].